To align initiatives with corporate sustainability goals, BuhlerAG wanted to assess carbon equivalent emissions derived from all on-site operations at BuhlerPrince. Moreover, the company wanted to understand the extent to which carbon equivalent emissions performance creates—or could create—competitive advantage. BuhlerAG sought assistance from BearingPoint and West Monroe to:

Calculate aggregated emissions from greenhouse gas (GHG) sources at the BuhlerPrince manufacturing site and convert to carbon equivalent emissions to provide a foundation for tracking future emissions

Identify changes that could cut both operational costs and fiscal emissions significantly

Gain insight into the highest contributing consumption sources and their greenhouse gas impact; explore potential ways to reduce emissions from those sources

Define BuhlerPrince’s standing among competitors with respect to environmental sustainability and focus improvements on areas that can provide competitive advantage in brand recognition and ethical manufacturing

BuhlerAG has a long-standing relationship with BearingPoint in Europe. BearingPoint’s North American alliance partner, West Monroe, applied its industry and analytics expertise to assess BuhlerPrince’s US operations.

Three steps to gaining greater insight

Identify—Identifying all relevant emission sources within a facility and understanding the relative contribution of each source and its GHG multiplier is vital to calculating carbon equivalent emissions accurately.

Quantify—West Monroe requested data for numerous energy sources, calculated emissions totals, and then aggregated those calculations to quantify total emissions.

Contextualize—West Monroe demonstrated environmental impact by illustrating the findings in relevant ways; for example, the number of acres of trees it would take to offset BuhlerPrince’s carbon equivalent emissions.

By understanding that electricity use accounted for approximately 80 percent of BuhlerPrince’s on-site carbon footprint in 2013 and 2014, the company can now maximize impact of its capital expenditures budget by investing in electricity reduction initiatives.

Positive findings—such as the company’s reduced carbon equivalent emissions in 2014—are enabling BuhlerAG to market its environmental progress to build its brand reputation.